How old were our founders?
 

I sat down and started to think about it...I tried to find the info, but had no luck. Does anyone know how old Anna, Eva, and Mary were when DG was founded? I want to say that I have heard they were between the ages of 14 and 16...but I'm not sure if that is right.

Isn't it also true that DG used to recruit girls as young as 14? Anyone have any insight on this?

I think they definitely were teenagers, as the Lewis School was more of a finishing school for "young ladies", rather than a college/university.

Hi there, I found some info in the History of Delta Gamma.

They were 17-18 years old when DG was founded. Eva Webb was born July 5, 1855 and both Anna and Mary were born on January 22, 1856.

As far as the ages of members, there is this explanation:

"During these early years in Oxford observers from elsewhere note a pecularity in the Mother Chapter - that the "actives" are in reality the inactive members of the group and the alumnae or inactive members are really the most active in the chapter. This is attributed to the youth (those over 13 years of age) of the members, for we must remember that the Institute (The Lewis School was also known as the Oxford Female Institute) was really a prep school."

So it seems that there were a lot of younger members considering the population of the school, but the older girls were the ones who were the most active.